Legos help Monterey students build engineering skills

In the PTA room of Monte Vista Elementary, Alon Keller is reviewing concepts he's already taught a group of vivacious second-graders. In the past four sessions, they've build gondolas, walkers and gear cars out of Legos.

"What kind of gear is this?" Keller holds up a wheel-shaped Lego.

"It's a crown gear," a student yells out.

"Crown gear, very good. It looks like a sombrero. And we use it for what project?"

"Helicopters," another student shouts.

"So we made helicopters and we used crown gears. What kind of angle can you make between a crown gear and a spur gear? ... What kind of angle is this?" Keller says, holding his left hand perpendicular to his right arm.

In 90-minute Lego classes, Keller helps the students develop geometry and engineering language as they use critical-thinking skills. On Thursday, they built a train to travel on a monorail, and they had to option to design it for jousting or just for looks. By the time the children start working on their own projects they're so engrossed with their construction bricks, Keller has to stop them repeatedly to command their attention.

"This program addresses a lot of issues," says Romina Sparano, president of Monte Vista's PTA. "Yes, math and language are the foundational skills, but students don't just learn them in math and language classes. The kids really need the support of these other approaches."

The PTA decided to fund music classes for kindergarten and first grade. The school has music instruction for fourth- and fifth-graders.

And now that many districts are in the process of revamping their budgets to accommodate new funding models, Sparano wants administrators to take notice of this type of enrichment program.

"This is what I want to see in schools," she said.

Most districts in California are now in the process of gathering input from stakeholders as they develop their Local Control Accountability Plan, the master document that will guide districts for the next three years as they try to improve academic performance.

In re-drafting their spending plans, schools need to address California's eight priorities, among them student achievement, parental involvement, Common Core Standards and basic school facilities.

Sparano said the PTA decided to fund music classes for kindergarten and first grade to support language learning and auditory skills. The Lego engineering classes, offered through Play Well Teknologies, is aimed at helping the students develop critical thinking skills.

Play Well usually has classes as after school programs, so the Monte Vista lessons in the middle of the day are a first for them, Keller said.

During the classes, Keller tries to make sure students use appropriate engineering language.

"These are not bumps," he tells the students. "They're called teeth."

These are concepts they can apply later in life, he said.

"This is not just for Legos," he said. "This is the real language of engineering that can later be useful as they progress in science."

Monte Vista's principal Phil Menchaca likes the program and how the children are responding to the instruction.

"Now they're writing about their experiences," he said. The instruction "touches on every subject. Anything that gets the kids excited."

The student's enthusiasm is palpable. After a few minutes of being engrossed in their Legos, Keller raises a small locomotive created by Jeffere Lockwood with a red triangle attached to the front.

"Everybody, eyes on me. What kind of simple machine is this part?" he says, pointing at the red scoop. "What would you stick under a door so the door does not move?"

"A mat?" a student asks.

"A mat is for wiping your feet, but I see your logic," Keller said. "But what do you call this shape? If you're on a skateboard, what do you use to jump? A wedge. A ramp. A slope."

Any opportunity to create vocabulary.

The scoop Jeffere has attached to his locomotive could give him an advantage when it comes time to battle against another train. But the time to battle comes and it turns out Ernest Amparano's train gets going faster, and derails Jeffere's train. No matter, Keller tells him. Just keep trying with different techniques, until you derail your opponent.